The Hidden Things
by Aria Howlett
Summary: This is just a one shot about the things a child of Ares must hide from the world.


This is just a little one shot about Clarisse. I own nothing. R&R plz!

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I walked around camp and soon I found myself at the lake. The lake was shining in the moonlight and the dryads and naiads were out in droves.

"Clarisse. What troubles you this night?" A beautiful naiad stood before me. Her eyes were the most spectacular shade of green and she had waist length brown hair. Her body curved and swelled in all the right places and her dress was draped around her frame just right.

"I'm sorry, Ash." I muttered to her. She was one of my two dirtiest darkest secrets, and she was the holder of the other.

"Did they say something again." She said. It wasn't a question. I knew that much.

"Yeah. Can I get that stuff back, Ash? I just really need a bit of home tonight." I mumbled. She smiled and nodded. She walked toward the tree line and motioned that I follow her. A few minutes later, we arrived at a large gnarled old Ash tree.

"Hard to believe this is me, huh?" She joked.

"Yeah." I nodded. She reached into the base if the tree and pulled out a long, high sided brown box. I nodded in thanks and walked back to the lake. I settled on a flat oblong rock and pulled the flaps of the box open.

At the very top of the box, three sweaters were folded neatly. I pulled them out and laid them across the rock. The first was a Christmas sweater, with a red background and little reindeer running around the front. The second was a thick winter sweater with brown and red argyle diamonds checkering it. The last was a simple knit cardigan, all black, with a slight rim of silver across the collar. I pulled the last one on.

I kept looking through the box, pulling everything out and laying it flat on the rock. There was a scruffy one eyed teddy bear, faded and stained. One ear was completely stained black, while the other was the original white.

There was a metal flute, painted electric blue. Dents littered it's surface and the paint was peeling. I picked it up and held it the way I did when I had learned it. I blew and a shrill note rang out in the night air, clear as glass, yet sharp as a blade.

A small silver cuff bracelet rested just to the right of the now empty box. It was perfect. The silver finish was so clean, I could still read the inscription. 'For my baby girl, Clarisse, may your father guide and protect you in battle.'

A velvet box about the size of a hand sat on the rock. Inside, I knew, was a silver necklace with a teardrop shaped opal dangling off the delicate chain. My mother had given it to me for my sixteenth birthday. She said it had been passed down through the generations of my family, yet it was still perfect.

Next came a small glass bottle. There was nothing really special about it. It was just a bottle. It was only six inched tall and three inches wide at its widest point. The neck tapered up into a graceful swoop and natural spout. It held a few inches of black sand. Mom and I had gone to the Azores and on Faial, we had bought the bottles and filled them with the volcanic sand. Mine spilled on the plane, so mom split hers in half.

The last object was the most simple. It was a large purple amethyst. The amethyst was attached to a slim wafer of grey stone.

These are the things that no one can see. They are the parts of me that I can never show to the world, because if I did, the world would take them away. The world would take them as a sign of weakness. Just as they always did.

I gathered all of my objects and replaced them in the box. First was the necklace in its beautiful black velvet box. Next, I placed the glass bottle of sand in the bottom of the box, the graceful neck pointing to the moon above me. I wrapped the arms of the ragged teddy bear around the glass bottle and then I placed the amethyst in the box. I placed my chipped and peeling flute in front of the line of other items and dropped the silver cuff at the mouth of the instrument. I folded the Christmas sweater and stuffed it in over the objects. I put away the argyle sweater next. Finally, I tugged the black cardigan off, and began to put it away.

I stopped. I closed the box and put the cardigan back on. I walked back to my cabin with my box. I hung the two sweaters in the wardrobe. I placed the little bottle of sand on the shelf above my bed and then added my flute and amethyst. I opened the velvet box and clasped the necklace around my neck. I slipped the silver cuff on and at last, I put my scraggly teddy bear on my pillow.

I curled up on my bed and fell asleep quickly. That night, I slept better than I have since I was seven years old.


End file.
